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Plants eavesdrop as a means of defense

Imagine yourself in a situation in which you and everyone surrounding you are being attacked by an unknown predator. You hear signs of chaos all around you and your fight-or-flight instincts are gearing up to protect you from impending doom. You are just about to plan your miraculous escape when you notice your feet are stuck planted to the ground, and you are incapable of fleeing the scene. What would you do to protect yourself?

Ask Mr. Scientist: Magnetic Fields and Batteries

Dear Mr. Scientist,

UW professor serves on federal election commission under Obama

University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Barry Burden will testify at a commission meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 20 regarding his research under a bipartisan presidential commission exploring how to improve federal elections.

Hair cells may be new hearing loss cure

Hearing is an essential function that enables people to take part in daily communication, appreciate music and nature, and enjoy their life.

Childhood stresses may trigger the later onset of anxiety in girls

When exposed to high-stress situations, the normal physiological reaction is for the body to release a hormone called cortisol, which prepares people for a fight-or-flight response to the stressor. However, according to a study done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the laboratory of psychology professor Seth Pollak, this reaction does not occur in girls who experienced physical abuse in their developmental years.

Stem cell research shows promise of memory restoration

You simply can’t remember where you put your keys. It’s fine, happens to everybody and you are just getting older. Good-humoredly, you even start calling yourself “absentminded.” Then, one day, you cannot remember your boss’s last name. You start forgetting the stores you’ve been to, where you went for vacation last year, or what your favorite meal is. You forget how to use the bathroom or when to eat, and the people you care about fade in and out of your memory.

Ask Mr. Scientist: Of insect repellent and transition lenses

Dear Mr. Scientist,

UW to offer massive open online courses

Classrooms have changed significantly over the past 20 years as new and improved technologies become available, and these changes may come with consequences that affect students and faculty alike.

lab rat

John Karl Scholz named next College of Letters & Science dean

Economics Professor and Department Chair John Karl Scholz is set to be the next dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Letters & Science, according to a university news release.

Rust-less steel and nano-paint future of UW Engineering

Most people on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus walk past the old, three-story brick building along Lakeshore path without a second thought. On the outside, it looks like an abandoned warehouse used for storing lab equipment or boats from Lake Mendota in the winter. What is actually inside is more surprising: a nano-technology development lab that could change life as we know it.

Microbes May Set Squid's Internal Clock

Growing up in an antibiotic age has predisposed many of us to think of all bacteria as harbingers of death and disease. We see them as things to be wiped, washed and scrubbed away. But for the past decade or so, the research, consistently proving the essentiality of microorganisms to human life, has us changing our tune. Because the truth is, we live in a bacterial world. Microorganisms in and on our body outnumber human cells 10 to one, and it can be argued we are more bacteria than we are human. And instead of threatening us, they keep us healthy by supporting basic physiological processes from digestion to defense.

Researchers closely watching new strain of avian flu

It takes two things to create a human influenza pandemic: the introduction of a novel virus for which the world’s population has no immune response, and the adaptation of that novel virus to spread easily from human to human.

Elmer McCollum

Elmer McCollum discovered Vitamin A in 1913, which he called ‘Factor A.’

Rats

McCollum noted ‘Factor A’ deficiency caused cases of ophthalmia in rats (left). ‘Factor A’ would later come to be know as Vitamin A, the first discovered vitamin.

100 years later: Vitamin A’s birthday

Anyone who eats ice cream, eggs, mango or sweet potato is getting some of their necessary intake of Vitamin A. Even pumpkin pie contains Vitamin A. Because Vitamin A is found in many different foods, either naturally or supplemented, the consequences of not having enough are rarely a topic of discussion.

Arms of spiral galaxies longer lived than once believed

The Milky Way is only one of, by some estimates, 500 billion galaxies in the universe. Its distinctive shape, a central disk with arms reaching out like those of an octopus, make it one of the most common types of galaxies, a spiral galaxy; about 70 percent of nearby galaxies share this shape.

Ask Mr. Scientist: insect repellent and transitioning glasses

Dear Mr. Scientist,

Finalists named for Letters and Science dean

The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced the names of four finalists for the dean of the College of Letters and Science Monday, three of which are current professors on campus, according to a university press release.

Science communication